O. Apocyneae</i>, of the dogbane
family.

<hw>Schnapper</hw>, <i>n</i>. or <hw>Snapper</hw>, a fish
abundant in all Australasian waters, <i>Pagrus unicolor</i>,
Cuv. and Val. The latter spelling was the original form of
the word (one that snaps). It was gradually changed by the
fishermen, perhaps of Dutch origin, to <i>Schnapper</i>, the
form now general. The name <i>Snapper</i> is older than the
settlement of Australia, but it is not used for the same fish.
`O.E.D.,' s.v. <i>Cavally</i>, quotes:

1657. R. Ligon, `Barbadoes,' p. 12:

"Fish . . . of various kinds . . . Snappers, grey and red;
Cavallos, Carpians, etc."

The young are called <i>Cock-schnapper</i> (q.v.); at a year
old they are called <i>Red-Bream</i>; at two years old,
<i>Squire</i>; at three, <i>School-Schnapper</i>; when they
cease to "school" and swim solitary they are called
<i>Natives</i> and <i>Rock-Natives</i>. Being the standard by
which the "catch" is measured, the full-grown <i>Schnappers</i>
are also called <i>Count-fish</i> (q.v.). In New Zealand,
the <i>Tamure</i> (q.v.) is also called <i>Schnapper</i>,
and the name <i>Red-Schnapper</i> is given to <i>Anthias
richardsoni</i>, Gunth., or <i>Scorpis hectori</i>, Hutton.
See quotation, 1882.

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i.
p. 68:

"King-fish, mullet, mackarel, rockcod, whiting, snapper, bream,
flatheads, and various other descriptions of fishes, are all
found plentifully about."

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. i.
p. 261:

"The kangaroos are numerous and large, and the finest snappers
I have ever heard of are caught off this point, weighing
sometimes as much as thirty pounds."

[The point referred to is that now called Schnapper Point, at
Mornington, in Victoria.]

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,'
p. 39:

"The genus <i>Pagrus</i>, or as we term it in the vernacular,
`schnapper,' a word of Dutch origin . . . The schnapper or
snapper. The schnapper (<i>Pagrus unicolor</i>, Cuv. and Val.)
is the most valuable of Australian fishes, not for its superior
excellence . . . but for the abundant and regular supply . . .
At a still greater age the schnapper seems to cease to school
and becomes what is known as the `native' and `rock-native,'
a solitary and sometimes enormously large fish."

1896 `The Australasian,' Aug. 28, p. 407, col. 5:

"The fish, snapper, is so called because it snapped. The